Wild life devastated by moorland blaze

THE smouldering fire creeps towards Redbrook Reservoir off the A62 at Standedge

Devastated conservationists are counting the loss of rare birds after a bank holiday blaze consumed hundreds of acres of moorland.

More than 50 fire-fighters, backed by support teams and a water-dumping helicopter, battled to control the fire which ripped through moors near Redbrook reservoir on the main A62 Oldham-Huddersfield Road at Stanedge. The land, part of the National Trust and Peak District National Park, is home to scores of rare birds, including golden plover and curlews

Guy Laurie, who manages the NT Marsden Moor estate which covers more than 5,000 acres, said: “We have lost a terrible amount of wildlife in this tragedy. It’s all gone.

“It will take us days to work out what breeds have been destroyed. But the toll could be very high. This is a crucial time of the year for nesting birds.”

Andy Valentine, a Peak Park ranger, said: “It will be hard to calculate the real effect of the fire until we are able to carry out investigations after the blaze.”

More than 50 fire-fighters from West Yorkshire, backed by support teams from Greater Manchester, spent hours at the scene on Sunday beating and damping down the blaze.

Firemen were able to stop the fire spreading to the Redbrook Sailing Club, opposite the Great Western pub on Manchester Road, leaving boats and the clubhouse undamaged.

Visitors to the near-by Great Western Inn had a dramatic grandstand view of the action just a few hundred yards away.

Diggle-based Pennine Helicopters rushed to the scene and ran an aerial shuttle service scooping up water from the reservoir and dumping it on the flames to enable fire beaters to snuff them out.

Andy Crowther of the West Yorkshire Fire service, said: “We would remind people that the moors are a beautiful place — but they need protecting.

“There is always a high risk of fires at holiday time and while we want people to enjoy themselves they must always be aware of the risks.”

The cause of the fire is still being investigated.